Some electronic devices emit electromagnetic radiation. To prevent deleterious interference of electromagnetic radiation upon other electronic equipment, limits are placed on the permissible amount of electromagnetic emissions from enclosures housing electronic devices. To comply with these limits, enclosures are typically sealed and made of electrically conductive material. Invariably, one or more interconnections are provided for communicating with the electronic devices or boards housed therein. Shielded cable assemblies can be connected to the enclosure at one or more panels or bulkheads; however, these connections can be vulnerable to EMI/RFI leakage. To prevent such EMI/RFI leakage, a tight seal is needed between the shielded cable assembly and the enclosure.
One solution is to use a shielded connector adapted to secure the cable assembly tightly to the enclosure. One class of such connectors uses threaded housings or backshells that mate with a complementary threaded fitting provided at the enclosure (e.g., threaded connectors often used with radio frequency coaxial cable). The circumferential and mechanically stable contact between the cable shield and the chassis surface produces an effective EMI/RFI blocking seal.
Some disadvantages to this solution, however, include limiting the use of connectors to those types having circular geometries. Additionally, their threaded interfaces can be relatively cumbersome to mate and un-mate as they may require the use of tools, such as a torque wrench. Further, many of the widely used standard interfaces (e.g., Fibre Channel) rely on rectangular geometries adapted for quick connects and disconnects. Thus, there is a need for a panel interconnect that has effective EMI/RFI shielding characteristics, supports connectors of different geometries, and allows for the use of quick connect/disconnect connectors.